Spain and the US will sign the arrival of two new destroyers to Rota before the meeting between Sánchez and Biden

The Government will not bring to Congress the modification of the treaty that will allow the expansion of the US military presence in Spain

MADRID, 20 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Spain and the United States plan to sign before May 12 the reform of the bilateral defense agreement that allows the establishment at the Rota naval base (Cádiz) of two new destroyers as part of the NATO anti-missile shield, which will be added to the four already installed there since 2014 and 2015.

Sources from the Ministry of Defense have assured that the agreement is already in its final drafting phase and will be sealed before the meeting between the chief executive, Pedro Sánchez, and the president of the United States, Joe Biden, on May 12 at the White House.

The expansion of the US military presence in Rota was already agreed upon by Biden and Sánchez in the bilateral meeting they held at the Moncloa Palace in June of last year on the occasion of the NATO Summit in Madrid.

Since then, the US Administration and the Ministry of Defense have worked on a continuous exchange of proposals for the reform of the treaty, which is now finalized and only the final phase of verifying the correctness of the versions in Spanish and English remains.

This agreement will continue the commitment expressed by Sánchez and Biden with the military agreement signed in 1988, which allows the shared use of the Morón (Seville) and Rota bases and which they described as "a fundamental piece" of bilateral cooperation in defense between the two countries.

The expansion of this collaboration will be reflected by the arrival in Rota of two new destroyers, which will be added to the four that are already permanently deployed there since 2014 and 2015. The forecast is their arrival in Spain in 2024 and 2025 , at the rate of one AEGIS destroyer, with its crew and embarked equipment, in each of those years.

The formula chosen for the agreement has been the modification of an amendment to the treaty, which makes it possible for it not to have to go through the Congress of Deputies. This will make it possible to 'save' the discrepancies expressed by United We Can when the extension of the treaty was announced.

The Council of Ministers already gave its endorsement last January, stressing that this expansion of the United States' presence in Spain contributes to "strengthening NATO's defense system against ballistic missiles."

The Government justified the deployment "given the new security challenges posed in our environment, which require maximum coordination to continue maintaining the security of Spain and that of the United States and the mutual contribution of both countries to the Atlantic Alliance and international security." .